You may not know this, but I'm a huge fan of George Couros. He makes me reflect on lots of things, and some of them are even school related. Today I got my weekly video from George. Below is a link to the blog in his email. If you have some time, it's definitely worth the read. One of our Merton alumni is even in the video about checking in with Google forms.
The title of today's blog came from George's blog. The quote really made me think about the things that we can do to make our students' year the best that it can be. Will there be celebrations? Yes, just like there are any year. Will there be bumps along the way? Yes, just like there are any year. Regardless, this is going to be the best school year ever! We've got this!
"The upcoming school year might be one of the toughest ever to be an educator. It also might be the most exciting and revolutionary year ever. Mindset will be critical."
Author unknown
I found this quote in a blog or Facebook post (not sure which one) and the comments were quite interesting. So what do you think about this quote? I know this. We all have some sort of trepidation when it comes to the school year. Frankly, we have some trepidation before the start of any school year. We can't do this alone. We need to do this together. Don't keep your questions to yourself. Ask them of your colleagues, your family, or me. Have conversations about how these questions can be answered or addressed. Yes, we are all here for the kids, but we also must be aware of ourselves. Do I have all of the answers? No way. I don't even have all of the questions. If you need something, ask. If you don't ask the answer is always no. Even if you have the most positive mindset, there's always the possibility that doubt will creep up. That's human nature.
Some answers to your questions-
- Open House will be on Wednesday, August 26th from 11AM-7PM. Families will schedule times to meet with their homeroom teachers (15 minutes), but please consider how you might be able to have families get to at least see each of their grade level teachers.
- The emergency lesson plans that you are creating (5 for each content area) will only be used if we go 100% virtual.
- Becca and I are working on new EE rubrics for virtual learning. We both feel that the Danielson rubric doesn't really gauge how well you are providing instruction. We will be sharing this with you during our Summer Academy time.
- You need to take complete the Second Step training program by September 1st. There is an update scheduled for August 27th that is supposed to take a couple of days so doing the training before August 27th might be the safest bet. You don't need to do it all at once, which is good for people like me. Overall, it took me about an hour and a half. And please let me know if you thought every video started out blurry. They sure were for me.
- You will get a draft of our Summer Academy plan some time next week. Abby, Katie, Martica, and Mary have put a ton of time into learning and activities that will prepare us for the upcoming school year. I cannot thank them enough.
- As of right now, the schedules that I provided you this week are still accurate and the ones that are still in place. I appreciate our discussions and your flexibility as we develop schedules that we feel are best for our students and staff. If you'd like to talk more about schedules, don't hesitate to ask!
One final thing...
You know that I enjoy an acronym every once in a while. Here's one I think will benefit each of us this school year.
BRAVE
Be honest with yourself
Reflect on your day (or hour or minute)
Ask questions of your colleagues and me
Verify that you understand what we are doing
Evaluate for success or adjustments
That's all for now, except for this one thing. Find time this weekend to just sit and relax with nothing on your mind. Maybe it's on your patio, deck, or porch. Maybe it's in a boat. Maybe it's under a tree or on a golf course. It doesn't matter where you relax: just relax. And if you're still and silent, this might just happen.
Have a great weekend!
Jay
Take care of the kids. Take care of each other. Take care of yourself.- John Gunnell
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